Atonement

RECOVERING BIBLICAL AT-ONE-MENT : M.
M. M. NINAN
classic work analyzes the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus, suggesting that the three main
interpretations in Christian history are the Christus Victor theory, the Satisfaction theory, and the Moral
Influence theory.
Christus Victor (Christ the Victor) is a view of the atonement taken from the title of Gustaf Aulén's
groundbreaking book, first published in 1931, where he drew attention back to the early church's
Ransom theory which considered the death of Christ on the cross was a payment to Satan for the price
of the slaves he held - the mankind - who were sold by Adam to Satan in surrendering to Satanic view
of life by Adam and Eve. In Christus Victor,- in contrast - the atonement is viewed as divine conflict and
victory over the Satanic forces and powers that held humanity in subjection. "The work of Christ is
first and foremost a victory over the powers which hold mankind in bondage: sin, death, and the devil."
The Christus Victor theory is described as a battle. Its central theme is the idea of the Atonement as a
Divine conflict and victory; Christ -- Christus Victor -- fights against and triumphs over the evil powers
of the world, the 'tyrants' under which mankind is in bondage and suffering, and in Him God reconciles
the world to Himself. One could also describe Christus Victor as a motif of divine rescue and liberation
from the bondage of sin, death, and the devil. Central to its understanding are the ideas of the
Incarnation and the Lordship of Christ. In this sense of liberation and rescue it is parallel to the
Ransom Theory however it also stresses Christ's victory over sin and is thus centered in the idea of the
Resurrection.
In contrast to the Ransom theory, the "Christus Victor" theory sees Jesus not as one who buys back
freedom by paying the price to Satan, but as one who defeats Satan in a spiritual battle using not the
methods of power and authority and instruments of worldly warfare that kills and destroy, but by the
instruments of spiritual warfare based essentially on love. It was a process of redemption not steal,
kill and destroy.
As the term Christus Victor indicates, the idea of “ransom” should not be seen in terms (as Anselm did)
of a business transaction, but more of a rescue or liberation of humanity from the slavery of sin. Unlike
the Satisfaction or Penal-substitution views of the atonement rooted in the idea of Christ paying the
penalty of sin to satisfy the demands of justice to God the Father, or to the Satan to get man from his
slavery, the Christus Victor view is rooted in the incarnation and how Christ entered into human misery
and wickedness and thus redeemed it.
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